Knitted fabric



l July z, '1946.

E. WILDT ETAL KNITTED FABRIC Filed April 2, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 2, 1946, E. WILDT fr AL 2,403,201

KNITTED FABRIC y Filed pril 2, 1945` 2 sheets-sheet 2 nw swnw sw nw'sw nw sw'nw sw nw j. am? wz@ Attnrney A `Patented July 2, 1946 l KNrr'rED FABRIC Edwin Wildt, Henry Harold Holmes, and John Cyril Herbert Hurd, Leicester, England, assignors to Wildt and Company Limited, Leicester, England, a company of Great Britain Application4 April 2, 1043, serial No. 481,608 In Great Britain March 16, 1942 y vThis invention relates to improvements in knitted fabric, the object of the invention being to produce a patterned fabric with novel characteristics of an attractive appearance adapted for use for a variety of purposes, but especially for articles of clothing as will be hereinafter described.

In its broadest aspect, the invention comprises a patterned knitted fabric wherein the pattern is constituted by a fancy stitch combination consisting of a lap ,or wrap or embroidery loop or l stitch effect and a transferred loop or stitch effect directly associated.

Effects thus produced `are for brevity hereinafter referred to in the following description and in the appended claims as the characteristic novel effects.

The essential novel and distinguishing feature of the present invention is that the lap or'wrap or embroidery loop or stitch effect and the transferred loop or stitch effect are contained in the same needle Wale, or needle wales, as the case may be, of the fabric, in contradistinction to being contained respectively in different needle wales.

This direct association of lap or`wrap or embroidery loops or stitches and transferred loops or stitches results inthe production of a fabric which possesses attractive ornamental. and cellular characteristics. i

In' the preferred embodiment of the invention the lap or wrap or lembroidery loopsor stitches andthe transferred loops or stitches are interconnected or knitted together,

The invention includes as a characteristic feature a patterned knitted fabric wherein the patterned effect is constituted by lap or wrap loops or stitches and pelerine stitches directly associated, e. g. interconnected or knitted together.

The pattern may be composed'of individual characteristic novel effects distributed over `the ground fabric, or of such effects formed either in substantially continuous or interrupted manner walewise or/and coursewise so that the said effects arepresent either throughout the fabric, or only in predetermined portions or areas thereof in the form of stripes, panels, blocks, diamonds or other figures or any desired combination thereof, according to. requirements.

The transferred loops or stitches may be directlyl associated with the lap or wrap or embroidery loops or stitches suchwise that thel cel` lular effects are contained within the lap or wrap or 'embroidery effects.

m characteristic novel meca may be, con- 2 claims. (C1. (i6- 201i tained in single needle wales eachincluding loops or stitches composed of an embroidery thread or threads, and stitches or .loops of ground or main yarn transferred from another wale, e. g. a sinker Wale, to the left only, or to the right only, or to both the left and the right, alternately, or in any other desired order. Alternatively, the said effects may be contained in two or more successive needle wales with lap or wrap or embroidery loops or stitches inthe respective wales composed of separate threads, or of the same thread as in multi-Wale lap or wrap effects, and,A loops or stitches of the ground or main yarn transferred to adjoining needle Wales from an appropriate intermediate Wale by being spread laterally in opposite directions.

Thus, in a fabric wherein the characteristic novel effects consist of combined lap or'wrap or embroidery loops or stitches and pelerine stitches,

the sinker loops forming the'pelerin'e stitches may be transferred either to a needle Wale on the left of the sinker Wale, or -to a needle wale on the right of the sinker Wale, or to the left and the right, alternately, or in any-other desired order,

or such loopsv may be spread laterally tov left and right so as to be incorporated `in the needle Wale, or adioining needle wales, with the lap or wrap or embroidery loops or stitches. l

The fabric may containa combination of any -twoor more of the aforesaid needle Wale formations in any desired sequence.

The said effects may include either single transferred loops or stitches or an accumulation of two or more of such loops or stches'.

While in order to produce distinct patterns on f the face of the fabric the characteristic lnovel effect would be constituted by combined lap or wrap or embroidery stitches and `transferred loops or stitches, it is within the scope of the invention to provide a fabric wherein the characteristic novel Veffects include, in contradistinction to stitches, loops of embroidery threadassociated with transferred loops or stitches, the former being interconnected with'loops of the ground fab- -ric so as to appear distinctly at theback of the fabric, thereby forming a pattern or design effect useful in the event of it being desired to'shsow the reverse or inside of the fabric. The pattern or design effect thus produced may also appear less ldistinctly on the face f the fabric. If desired, the fabric may include characteristic novel effects of both forms so that there will be both distinct pattern or design effects and subdued pattern or design effects on the face of the fabric.

aeoaaoi Asregardsthelaporwraporembroideryeffects, when these are interrupted in a walewlse direction loose portions or floats of the embroiderythrcadorthreads occuronthebackorinside of the fabric between adjacent patterned portions. In some instances the presence ofsuch loose portions or oats may be objectionable.

Accordingly, in' fabric wherein is interrupted as aforesaid, the embroidery thread or threads may alsobe interconnected with loops of the ground fabric between the spaced pat-4 terned portions. This interconnection maybe continuous, i. e. course by coin'se, or at short intervals, e. g. of one or two courses, so that loose portions or floats are entirely avoided orare considerably shortened and an additional pattern effect is produced distinctly on the back or inside of the fabric which may appear incorresponding but subdued form on the face of the fabric as hereinbefore described with respect to the characteristic novel effects but of course without transferred loop or stitch eect.

The characteristic novel effects may be produced in conjunction with ground fabric composed of one of the primary stitch formations,

l plain, ribbed or purl, or any desired conventional variation thereof, such as tuck or miss stitch effects, or of any two or more of these in combination, in order to enhance the appearance of the fabric. Y

For example, the invention maybe carried into practice in lsimple plain knitted fabric, or in purl knitted fabric with the characteristic novel effects produced in the plain stitch portions of the purl knitted fabric.

Alternatively, the fabric may include courses composed partly of purl stitches and partly of plain stitches, with the said effects produced in the plainstitch portions.

Thus in one embodiment of the invention the characteristic novel effects may be produced in areas composed of plain stitches interspersed withareas composed of purl stitches, and the said areas Amay form .solid or hollow figures, stripes, panels, bands or the like, or any desired combination thereof, or may form other broken designs or patterns. If desired, the fabric may include so-called jacquard, e. g. purl, designs in `association with the characteristic novel effects.

As will be understood, many and diverse effects or different combinations of the kind aforesaid Vmay be obtained by appropriate production oi.'

-the accompanying drawings, wherein,

Figure l.` -is a structure diagram, drawn to a greatly enlarged scale', illustrating the front face of a portion of fabric incorporating -one'form cf the improved fancy stitchcombination, land Figure 2 is a similar view depicting a modification hereinafter to be described.

Like parts are designated by similar reference characters throughout the drawings.

The portion of fabric represented in' Figure l.

consists of a structure of .purl stitches p and plain stitches ps, and is shown as itleaves 'the needles of vthezlnachine upon which it il produced. Thespaced needle wales are indicated at nw, while the intervening` sinker wales are designated sw. The characteristic novel effects embroidery stitches 'rms cellular effect is cosstituted by wrap or `embroidery stitches es and transferred loops tl, directly associated. Two of the embroidery stitches, esl, viz. one in each of two adjoining needle wales nw, are knitted together withV the transferred loops tl. The latter form pelerine stitches, and are produced by the transference laterally in opposite directions of an accumulation of sinker wale loops from three successive courses C, D and E suchwise that said loopsv become meshed with knitted loops ps1 in the next course F. The pelerine stitches are produced by the use of a pair of transfer instruments working together. The fabric is knitted from a single main yarn y which, for convenience in illustration, is left unshaded. On the other hand, the continuous wrap or .embroidery embroidery stitch es1 preceded walewise'by four other wrap or embroidery stitches es respective- Y ly in the courses A, B, C and.D. The pattern eflfeet just described is therefore contained in two successive needle wales nw with Wrap or embroidery stitches esl in the respective wales composed of separate threads t and stitches tl of the ground or main yarn y transferred lto these needle wales from the intervening 'sinker wale sw by being spreadlaterally in opposite directions as aforesaid. Wherever an embroidery thread is formed into a stitch, it is, of cour'se, knitted in plating relation with the main yarn. In `this example 'loose portions or floats f of the embroidery lof the ground fabric.

threads t occur on the back or inside ci the fabric. It is these iioats which, when they extend between one cellular effect and another, might in some instances be objectionable as'hcreinbefore alluded to. In these instances'it is preferred that the embroidery threads t shall be interconnected with loopsof the ground fabric between the spaced cellular effects in the manner hereinafter to be describedv with reference to Figure 2. In the example illustrated in Figure 2, each of the two 'embroidery threads t is continuously interconnected coursey by course with loops ps Thus, instead of being formed into 'stitches at opposite sides of the opening O, loops el of embroideryhthread are associated with the transferred loops tl. As will be seen, these loops are so interconnectedA with the ground fabric as to appear distinctly at vthe back of the latter. thereby forming a pattern or design effect useful in the event of it being desired to Ashow the reverse or inside of the fabric. This pattern or design effect appears. less distinctly on the face of the fabric. By reason 'o f the threads t being continuously 4interconnected course by course with the loops ps, loose portions or oats such as those designated f in Figure 1 are entirely avoided. l

The invention is applicable to fabric, flat or tubular, knitted in the piece. L e. .in a continuous manner, intended to becut upsubsequently for manufacture into garments such as pullovers, slipovex-s, Jumpers, jackets and like outerwear, and to lengths of fabric knitted iny string formation and Joined by separating .or

partingcourses or/and draw threads so as to enable them to be readily separated, as well as to knitted articles, such as stockings, half-hose,

socks or the like, knitted separately, or produced in string formation with separating or parting courses or/and draw threads as' and for the purpose aforesaid. Accordingly, the expression knitted fabric is ,to be regarded a's including garment lengths or articles as well as fabric knitted in a continuous manner.

The invention is also to be regarded as in-l cluding knitted fabric of the patterned or fancy character hereinbefore set forth comprising a welt, a rib lrnittedcourse', or courses such as may form theiribbed waist band of a slipover. pullover or jumper or the ribbed top of a stocking, half-hose or sock, and a main portion with desired conventional stitch eifects and the characteristic novel effects as aforesaid, produced in from a ground yard', and separate threads knitted into wrap effects in at' least two successive' needle wales of said structure, loops of the ground l. Knitted fabric comprising a'structure cornposed. of purl stitches and plain stitches knitted yarn .being spread laterally in opposite directions and `thereby transferred to said adjoining needle loops from an appropriate intermediate `wale where they are interlooped with the combined adjoining loops and the wrap effects.

l2.` Knitted fabric comprising a structure 'cemposed of p url stitches and plainstitches knittedA from a ground yarn, and separate threads which are knitted mtu wrap verred-.s m pnmsmenes ef two successive needle wales of said structure.

longitudinal sequence. In this. connection the rib knitted course or courses may be of ordinary rib, such as l/l or 2/2 combination, or when there are several courses the ribbed portion prolduced may be of any desired fancy character.

When such fabric is produced in the form of garment lengths or articles in string formationl sinker .loops from thev intermediate sinker wale being spread laterally to left and right and inlcorpora'ted in the said adjoining plain stitches where they are knitted together-with thecombined vadjoining plain. stitches 4ani-fthe wrap effects. l i

EDWIN WIIDT.

HENRY HAROLD Homme.

JOHN cran. maaar norm. l

'6 y with repetition of the sequence aforesaid. and with a separating or parting course or draw 

